The Continuity of the Theological Current of Hishām b. al-Ḥakam in Basra: A Newly Found Current in the Intellectual History of the Early Imāmīyya

This is a research that seeks traces of the continuity of the theological current of Hishām b. al-Ḥakam in Basra. The research is pursued with the question of why and how Hishām b. al-Ḥakam’s thoughts continued in Basra. As it seems, after Hishām b. al-Ḥakam and his students were persecuted by the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad, some of his students, such as ‘Alī b. Ismā’īl al-Maythamī and al-Ḥakam b. Hishām b. al-Ḥakam, migrated to Basra to continue their theological activities, because the city was a thriving environment for theological dialogues and was distant from the center of the Abbasid Caliphate. In order to pursue their theological thoughts, they had scholarly interactions with the intellectual sect of Mu’tazila, and the opposition they faced from some Imāmīs in Basra is remarkable. Given oppositions to them by people outside and inside the Imāmīyya denomination, the current faded after a short-term presence and influential activities in Basra. Although there has so far not been a clear picture of their presence in Basra, in this research we have found that the theological strand following Hishām was active in Basra in late second and mid-third centuries AH.